Cherbourg handball players are ideally placed to end the 2021-2022 regular season in a historic second place in the Proligue championship. However, while there are three championship days left, nothing is certain for the Mauves.
4e au minimum
Let’s take things in order. Now with a three-point lead over Pontault-Combault, 3rd in the standings, and 6 points over the following teams (in order Sélestat, Dijon and Tremblay), the JSC is already mathematically guaranteed to play at least the play-off play-offs of accession to the Starligue, finishing in the worst 4th of the regular season since only Pontault-Combault and Tremblay can still pass in front of the Manchois. A 4th place is already good, but the people of Cherbourg can do much better.
A small point from a 3rd place assured
It is enough for the Mauves to score a point, in other words to sign only one draw in the last three meetings of the season to secure 3rd place of the podium by definitively ruling out the risk of a return from Tremblay. And even by losing the last three championship games, the JSC would ensure a 3rd place if Tremblay does not sign, at the same time, three victories.
3rd place does not dispense with play-offs before entering the play-offs, but she guarantees not to meet Ivryscarecrow of the league, before the eventual final.
Mano à mano with Pontault for 2nd place
Now, to avoid the play-offs, you have to keep 2nd place in the standings, qualifying directly for the play-offs in Dijon next June. This means staying ahead of Pontault-Combault. Currently with a 3-point lead, the equivalent of a win and a draw, as well as a particularly favorable goalaverage compared to the Ile-de-France, the Cherbourgeois have all the cards in hand. Thereby, the 28th day of Proligue this Friday can already be decisive: if Cherbourg, which goes to Besançon, does better than Pontault-Combault which receives at the same time the club of Valence, then the Mauves will definitively validate their second place.
A decisive match at Chantereyne on May 13?
If, on the other hand, the two formations maintain their rank and win against two teams at the bottom of the ranking, then the decisive match could well be the reception of Villeurbanne on May 13, during the 29th day of Proligue. And this time, JS Cherbourg will only need a draw to secure the place of runner-up to Ivry. It would be a hell of an epilogue and a nice farewell to the Chantereyne hall, which will once again be sold out, and which will then be deserted for two seasons, the time to transform it into an ultramodern sports hall.
Besançon – JS Cherbourg, 28th day of Proligue, Friday May 6 at 8:30 p.m.
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